


Learn to Love

by Xyzcl



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Health Insurance Fraud, Leukemia, M/M, Marriage of Convenience, Mentions of past abuse, Past Ventus/Vanitas, Side AnsemTW/Even, Side Axel/Roxas - Freeform, Side Vanitas/Isa, Side Xigbar/Demyx, Slow Burn, Younger Brother Riku, fake family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23428888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyzcl/pseuds/Xyzcl
Summary: Ventus and Ritsu have been friends for years and have helped each other through the best and worst of times. When Ritsu comes clean about his younger brother's recent health issues, Ventus goes for what he thinks is the obvious solution.
Relationships: Riku Replica/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 14





	1. Broken Plates and Future Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OverexcitedDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverexcitedDragon/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my amazing friend OverexcitedDragon! I know I've been talking about this for a while but now you can actually read the first chapter, I'll do my best to get the rest of it out on a proper schedule so you don't have to wait a million years to see how it ends

Ventus let out a quiet hum and took a sip from his drink, the sweet taste of peach coating his tongue as he looked around the restaurant from his seat in the corner booth he and his friend had grown used to sitting in. It had been almost a full year since the last time they had gotten together to go out and just spend time together because of their hectic schedules but they’d finally managed to work something out together. He checked his phone, scrolling through cat videos on twitter while he waited patiently for his friend to join him at their usual table. Hearing a familiar voice greeting the waiter, Ven turned off his phone screen and set it on the table next to him. 

“Wait long?” Ritsu asked as he sat down across from his friend. 

“Not really, Terra only came to bug me twice.” the blond teased as he playfully tapped his friend’s foot with his own. “What about you, work keep you late again?”

“Yeah, Scrooge wasn’t expecting it to be that busy so he underscheduled again.” the silver haired man explained, rubbing his shoulder as he leaned back against the soft cushioning of the booth seat. 

Ven leaned rested his head on his hand, not caring about his elbow on the table. "You've been working there since we were in high school, haven't you ever thought about getting a different job?"

Ritsu shook his head. "I need health insurance and Scrooge is willing to work with my weird schedule."

"Right, Riku's going into 8th grade this year, isn't he?" 

Ritsu nodded, braiding his long hair quietly while Terra wandered over to ask the two of them what they would like to order. They both ordered their usual before letting their waiter wander off towards the kitchen. The two of them settled in with their drinks, Ven still nursing his fuzzy navel from earlier as the two of them chatted. 

"I'm gonna see about getting Riku into online classes this year, his health hasn't been all that good." Ritsu explained, poking at one of the ice cubes in his glass absentmindedly. 

"What happened? Is he okay?" the blond asked worriedly. 

"He…….promise you won't panic Ven?" 

"I promise."

Ritsu moved his glass of water aside before accepting that he needed to tell his friend what was going on. "Riku was diagnosed with leukemia a few months back." 

"Leukemia? He has cancer?" Ven had to watch himself, trying to keep the shock off his face so he wouldn't make his friend uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, they caught it early on though so he should get better." Ritsu shook his head, wanting to change the subject. "What have you been up to?"

“Me and Vani both finally got our full release paperwork, I got Axel to finally give Isa the push to ask him out and they’ve been together for a few months now. Other than that, I’ve been too busy working to do anything. I haven’t even been able to do my laundry in two weeks, I just go home and sleep anymore.” Ventus complained, resting his head on the table. “I’ve been debating hiring someone to help out since I can’t just keep ordering takeout.”

“You’ve come a long way since high school, you’re doing good Ven.” aqua eyes softened as the taller man took a sip from his water. “If I wasn’t so busy with work and taking care of Riku I’d offer to help you out, cooking and cleaning are two things I’m definitely good at.” 

Ventus let out a hum as Terra brought their food over to them, setting it on their table before going over to a table where a young blonde woman was sitting patiently with a sketchbook and a cup of coffee. Pointing over at the table, the mischievous grin on Ven’s face made his friend turn to see what was going on.

“Hey Namine, is there anything I can get for you?” Terra asked the woman. 

“Is the usual okay?” Namine asked, setting her drawing pencil down next to her sketchbook. 

“A parfait and a broken china?” 

The blonde woman smiled and nodded, picking up her warm mug of coffee. “Are you sure your boss doesn’t mind me doing this so often?”

“He loves letting you do this, it’s his favorite way of getting rid of old plates.” the waiter explained reassuringly. 

He smiled at the woman before going back to the kitchen, coming back with one of the older plates that was set aside just for this purpose. Terra handed it to her and turned to face where Demyx was counting down at the bar, the patrons who knew what was going on cheering as Namine broke the plate against the waiter’s firm glutes. The blond woman quickly checked to make sure the waiter wasn’t hurt while Demyx walked over with the broom and dustpan, the two of them chatting with Terra while he reassured Namine that he was fine. 

“How long have the two of them been flirting like that?” Ritsu asked quietly, trying fruitlessly to contain his laughter.

“Three years now? The two of them have been like this since Demyx and Xigbar’s wedding.” Ventus replied with an equal amount of mirth in his tone.

“God, that was a disaster. Do you remember Even having to chase Ansem away from the cake?” the silver haired man reminisced. 

“He would’ve eaten the whole thing himself if Even hadn’t stopped him.” Ven couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore as he covered his mouth, his whole body shaking from the force of his laughter. 

“I’m surprised he doesn’t already have diabetes from how he eats. Speaking of how people eat, how are you not 300lbs with how much you eat?” Ritsu teased, playfully poking at one of the mozzarella sticks on one of his friend’s plates with his fork.

“I burn my calories by using my brain.” Ventus stuck his tongue out at the other man before shoving a whole meatball into his mouth. 

Ritsu feigned insult as he popped a piece of chicken into his mouth. “I swear Cid’s cooking gets better every time we come in.”

“Right? Putting up with all of us idiots was just a bonus.” Ventus hummed happily, setting his fork down to look at his friend. “Ritsu, do you wanna move in with me? I could help with Riku so you wouldn’t have to take care of him all on your own anymore.”

“I couldn’t-”

Ventus stopped the other man before he could argue. “Yes, you could. You helped me when I needed someone, let me be that someone for you. We could put Riku on my health insurance and you could take some time off to focus on him and yourself.”

“We’re not related, no one in their right mind would put him on your insurance.” Ritsu argued, setting his own fork down.

“You’re right….” the blond replied, letting out a quiet hum as he thought to himself.

Ritsu thought the argument was over as he picked his fork up again and popped another piece of chicken into his mouth. 

Ventus smiled and looked up at his friend. “Guess we’ll just have to get married.”


	2. Moving in

Riku let out a sigh as he set a box on his new bed, sitting down with a slight bounce while everyone else brought box after box into the house. He could hear Axel complaining about how heavy some of the boxes were and Roxas telling him to shut up while his elder brother tried to keep the peace and Ven helped organize things. Laying down on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling as he contemplated what where his life was going. Ritsu had come home just two weeks before to tell him he was getting married and within a week he’d watched his older brother sign marriage paperwork, been adopted by his brother and his new husband, signed paperwork to be put onto Ventus’ health insurance, and gone with them to buy a small house on the outskirts of Twilight Town. He’d gone from having a small room and watching his brother burn himself out to pay his medical bills to now having a room the size of the living room and dining room of the apartment he’d grown up in with his brother all to himself and didn’t have to worry about whether or not he’d have to choose between Ritsu’s health or his own. For the first time since he had been diagnosed, he didn’t have to worry about his leukemia taking over his and his brother’s lives. Climbing out of his bed, he walked back out to the living room to try and help with bringing things inside. 

“What can I help with?” Riku asked, standing off to the side to keep from getting in the way.

“Yeah, Vanitas brought his little brother Sora and as nice as he is, he’s not helping.” Roxas explained, motioning with his head towards the cheery brunet around the same age as Riku who was bouncing around everyone chatting with them while they moved boxes around. “Can you keep him distracted?”

“Sure, I can do that.” Riku replied calmly, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket as he walked over to where the other boy looked to be about two words away from getting decked by Vanitas. “Are you Sora?”

The cheerful brunet looked over at the other boy his age with a bright smile on his face as he finally stopped pestering his older brother giving Vanitas just enough time to finally get away. “Yeah, you must be Riku. It’s nice to meet you!” 

“Likewise.” Riku was surprised by just how bright the other teen was and had to keep himself from staring. “How about we get out of the way? I think all my stuff is out already, we could sit in my room until everyone else is done.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t help unpack more?” Sora asked, looking over to where Axel and Isa were carrying a dresser towards the front door.

“You weren’t helping before, at least you’ll be out of the way if you stay with Riku.” Vanitas replied with a roll of his eyes, nudging his younger brother with his shoulder as he passed by him. 

“Besides, I can’t lift anything heavy.” Riku explained quietly, kicking at a rock as he looked away from where his own older brother was shooting him a worried glance from. “Come on, you can help me unpack?”

Sora nodded and followed behind excitedly as Riku led him through the mess of adults moving boxes and furniture into the house, the taller teen opening his bedroom door and quickly ushering the other boy into the room to get out of the way before closing the door behind them. They both quickly went to work unpacking box after box, Sora putting things away where he was directed as they tried to get everything in order while everyone else could be heard organizing in the rest of the house. If Riku had to guess, they’d been working on his room for an hour and a half by the time the last box was broken down and added to the pile of cardboard in the corner of his room they’d somehow managed to keep from falling over. The two teens carried the cardboard mound out to the front where the adults were piling cardboard into the bed of Axel’s pickup truck, setting them all aside for recycling. The two boys walked back inside to the living room, sitting on the couch while they watched everyone else unpack. 

“Have you taken your nausea meds?” Ven asked, peeking out of the kitchen with a box of dishes in his hand. 

“Yeah, I took them before we left the apartment.” Riku explained, leaning back against the arm of the couch while he watched Sora fiddle with the tv remote as he searched through the channels for something to watch. 

“Okay, let me know if you start feeling sick.” the blond man smiled at his husband’s brother reassuringly before going back into the kitchen to put dishes away. 

Sora moved over to the other side of the couch, cuddling Riku as he settled on watching Lion King. Riku’s thought process sputtered out as he looked at the other boy. Sora seemed comfortable as the two of them just settled in on the couch to watch the movie. He was definitely more of a touchy person than his friends at his old school had been. 

“Do you usually cuddle with people you just met?” Riku asked quietly, trying not to interrupt the movie.

“No,” Sora replied before clarifying. “But Vanitas trusts you so you can’t be bad.” 

“You really trust your brother.”

Sora looked up at his new friend with a bright smile. “Yeah, he’s always doing the best for me.”

Rku smiled and nodded, rubbing his new friend’s back softly while they watched the movie quietly. Ritsu checked to make sure the two boys were doing alright before following Isa with boxes for his and Ven’s bedroom. He couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh as he sat down on the edge of his bed and looked around the bedroom. 

“Your life has changed so much in the past two weeks, are you sure you’re doing alright?” Isa asked quietly, not wanting to let everyone else know the true reason why the newlyweds had gotten married.

Ritsu shrugged as he set the box on the bed next to him. “I don’t know, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to really think about it.” 

“If you ever need to get away, I do have a couch.” the blue haired man offered.

“If I ever take you up on that, shoot me.” Ritsu replied flatly.

Vanitas leaned against the doorframe, glaring at the two men in the room. “Hate to break up your bonding but your husband’s waiting in your guest room.” 

The silver haired man let out a quiet sigh before standing up and wandering down to the end of the hallway. He peeked inside the room to see Ventus sorting through spare blankets and sheets, putting them away in the closet while he hummed to himself. Ritsu knocked on the doorframe quietly, waiting for his husband to notice him before stepping inside.

“Hey, Vanitas said you wanted to see me.” Ritsu mumbled as he walked over to the blond. 

“Yeah, I wanna talk to you about something.” Ventus explained, peeking down the hall to make sure no one was around before closing the door and walking over to his friend. “I know we’re married now and all but I don’t want you to push yourself. We don’t have to kiss or cuddle or….you know…..so don’t think you have to, okay? We’re still friends, just friends who live together now.”

“You know they’re going to expect us to be affectionate at least sometime though, right? We can’t keep this up forever with me just holding your hand.” Ritsu argued quietly, not wanting to risk everyone else hearing them.

“We’ll figure something out, okay? We’ve just gotta keep this up until Riku’s better, then you can really go out and enjoy your life. I just don’t want you to think you have to sleep with me just because of all this.” 

Ritsu pinned his husband against the wall, his hands on either side of the smaller man’s shoulders. “And if I wanted to?”

Ventus looked up at his partner calmly. “We both know you don’t want to.” 

“Glad we agree on that.” the taller man accepted with a nod, taking a step back. “Come on, let’s order pizza or something for everyone.”

“I’ll go check on Riku while you order.” Ven agreed, slipping out from underneath his husband’s arms before wandering out to the living room.

Sora could hear someone walking towards the couch and peeked over the back to see who was coming over, smiling as he waved to his elder brother’s friend. “Hey Ventus!”

“Please just call me Ven, Sora.” Ven replied with a smile, leaning on the back of the couch as he looked at the two teenagers. “How are you adjusting, Riku?”

“I’ll get used to it in a couple weeks.” Riku mumbled, letting out a quiet grunt as his new friend laid back down on him. “What about you and Ritsu?” 

“He’s ordering dinner right now, we’re gonna need some time to adjust to sleeping in the same bed every night but we’ll all get used to it with some time.” Ven reassured, softly ruffling his brother-in-law’s hair. 

“Are you two going on your honeymoon soon?” Sora asked curiously while cuddling up to his friend contentedly. 

“We’ll worry about that after Riku’s better.” 

“Wait, Riku’s sick?” Sora asked worriedly, sitting up quickly.

“If you keep moving around like that I will be.” Riku grumbled quietly, pulling the brunet down since he’d already figured out he liked to cuddle. 

“He’ll tell you more when he’s ready Sora.” Ventus reassured as he softly patted the brunet’s head. “For now, how about you two focus on how you’re going to handle going into your last year of middle school.” 

Sora let out a groan of dismay and tucked his head under Riku’s arm to try and hide from his responsibilities. Ven had to hold back a laugh as he walked towards the kitchen in an attempt to find where Vanitas and Isa had run off to. Peeking around the wall, he covered his mouth to keep from letting out a surprised sound and stepped back into the living room. Noticing the strange looks from the two teenagers, he held a finger over his lips to signal for them to not disturb the two men making out in his kitchen before heading back down the hall towards the guest room.

“Get bored?” Ritsu asked without looking up from his phone while he navigated through the Pizza Hut website to order food for the six men currently in his house and the four more on their way over. 

“It’s hard to hold a conversation with Vanitas when he has his boyfriend’s tongue half way down his throat.” Ventus replied casually as he started putting the guest bed together. 

The taller man let out a choking sound before looking over at where his husband was sitting on the floor hand tightening screws for the full sized bed frame they’d saved from Ven’s apartment. The casual manner with which his husband had mentioned seeing his ex boyfriend making out with another man in their kitchen was more surprising than finding out Isa had been coaxed into making out in a highly open part of someone else’s house. Finishing up his pizza order, Ritsu worked his phone back into the pocket of his jeans before walking over to sit down next to his friend.

“Can you hand me the screw driver?” Ventus asked with a glance at the instruction sheet he was working with. 

Ritsu let out a confirming hum, handing over the screwdriver the blond had asked for while watching him put the frame together. "When did Roxas say he'd be over?" 

“He said he’d be over around six with Axel, Ienzo and Aeleus should be over about the same time as them.” Ven explained while he tightened the screws with the screwdriver, wanting to make sure that it was tightened properly so the whole frame didn’t collapse the first time someone sat on it. “How are you holding up in all this? I know this wasn’t how you planned on getting married.”

The silver haired man paused, thinking about what to say before replying slowly. “If I had to get married to anyone, I’m glad it ended up being you. You’ve been there for me since we were kids and known Riku since he was born. This is all pretty crazy and yeah, I didn’t plan on getting married before 30 like this but all in all, getting married to your best friend just seems like a high school sleepover that never ends. The only real difference is now we’re drinking less and both have adult responsibilities.” 

“I’m never going back to drinking like when we were teens, that was a disaster.” Ventus let out a groan as he laid down on the floor. “I don’t miss the hangovers.” 

“I still remember that time Demyx convinced you to do a keg stand, you were still complaining about a headache a week later.” Ritsu poked his husband’s side playfully. “I talked to Scrooge and he gave me time off until Riku’s better, I’ll focus on things here at home so don’t worry about it alright?”

“I swear that’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever been told.” 

“Just wait till you see me cook.” 

Ventus started laughing as he rolled over onto his side and covered his mouth with one hand. “This whole conversation is so stupid, I’m glad things haven’t changed between us after all this.” 

“Why would things change? Even though we filed paperwork and got married, that doesn’t change that you’re my best friend.” Ritsu replied, laying down on the floor next to his friend. “This just means you can’t dip out on me next time I ask you to go with me for one of Riku’s parent teacher conferences.”

Their conversation was pulled to an abrupt halt by the sound of someone aggressively ringing the doorbell and Vanitas shouting for whoever was ringing it to stop. Ritsu had to try his hardest to keep from laughing as he sat up.

“Come on, we should stop Axel before Vanitas strangles him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If these two chapters are anything to go off of, this is gonna have a high word count. I'm gonna try my best to update on the 1st and 15th of every month until this is finished so feel free to tell me off if I don't update on time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you again in a couple weeks!


	3. Questions and uncertainty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, four days late on chapter 3. I'll make up for this eventually but for now, please enjoy this late update

Ritsu let out a sigh as he pulled his shirt up over his head, throwing it in the empty laundry basket by his half of the closet before wandering over to his dresser. He dug through it quietly, listening to the sound of running water as Ventus showered in the en suite while he changed into a pair of loose pajama pants. It would be the first night he'd slept in a real bed in a while and he wasn't sure how well his body would handle sleeping next to someone for the first time since high school. Deciding to face his new fate head on, Ritsu grabbed a hair tie from the small bowl on his dresser and quickly wove his hair into a loose braid to keep it from ending up a tangled mess in the morning before climbing into bed. Feeling the soft yet firm support of a new mattress under his body, the silver haired man couldn't resist the sigh of content relief that poured from his mouth. 

"I'm guessing you like it?" Ven asked as he stepped out of the bathroom in his pokemon pajamas, drying his hair roughly with a towel. 

"This bed feels amazing." Ritsu explained as he pressed his face into one of the plush pillows his husband had purchased while the sound of the other man's footsteps signaled his approach. 

"I know right? I took Riku with me to pick it out while you were changing your insurance info at the hospital the other day." the blond mentioned as he flopped down onto his side of the bed. "He knows you pretty well." 

"He really does." 

Ventus let out a quiet hum as he adjusted so he was under the blanket. "Come on, let's get some sleep." 

Ritsu nodded with a yawn, pulling the blanket up over himself and rolling so his back was to the other man. He stared at the wall in the dark, listening as his friend's breathing slowed as he fell asleep while he waited for his own body to relax and his mind to calm so he could sleep. As the clock ticked on evenly, ever a metronome to the monotonous melody of his heartbeat that thrummed on and on in the dark. After what felt like an eternity, he could hear footsteps hurrying through the hallway and carefully sat up. Making sure he didn't wake Ven, Ritsu slipped out of bed and walked down the hall to the bathroom where he found his younger brother bent over the toilet, his whole body shaking as he dry heaved. The elder of the two brothers sat next to the teenager doubled over the toilet and started rubbing soft circles between his shoulder blades to help him relax. 

"I hate this...." Riku whispered once he was sure his stomach was done with its contractions. 

"I know, want me to get you some water?" Ritsu offered. He wanted to comfort his brother but knew the last thing he should do until things got better was make wishful promises. "It'll get the taste out of your mouth." 

"Please?" 

Giving one last soft pat to his brother's back, Ritsu stood up and grabbed the plastic Hello Kitty cup off the bathroom counter and filled it with cool water, making sure it wasn't too cold with how warm he was sure Riku was after his nonconsensual abdominal work out. He handed the cup to the teenager on his bathroom floor before sitting down next to him again. 

"We'll get you some nausea meds in the morning, alright? I'll stay by you till you fall asleep." 

"You sure?" Riku asked, quickly swishing some water around in his mouth and spitting it out into the toilet before continuing. "Won't Ven be confused when you're not in bed with him?" 

"He'll understand. Some things are more important than sleeping in the same bed." Ritsu explained, reaching over to flush the toilet. "Ven's more concerned with how you're feeling than something like waking up next to me every morning." 

"What about your honeymoon? Or a real wedding?" 

Ritsu flicked his brother between his eyes before helping him up. "We can't have a real wedding without you there." 

"And what if I don't make it?" Riku asked quietly, staring into his half drained glass of water. 

"Don't think like that, you'll make it! You'll get better and we'll all go to the beach again together, alright? Come on, let's get you to bed." 

Riku nodded and finished his glass of water, setting the cup on the counter before allowing himself to be led off to his new bedroom as if he was a young child once again, too afraid of the things that go bump in the night to walk back to bed on his own. Ritsu tucked his brother in before sitting on the floor next to his bed, leaning against it so he could be more comfortable on the floor. 

"Ritsu?" Riku called out to his brother quietly. 

"Yeah?"

"Can you get Ven?" 

Ritsu looked up at where his younger brother was peeking out from under his blankets and smiled. "Sure, I'll go get him."

Standing up, Ritsu softly patted the blanket over his brother's head before stepping back out into the hall and wandering back to his bedroom. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, he softly shook the sleeping blond. Ven let out a confused sound before rubbing his eyes with one hand. 

"What's up?" Ven asked quietly as he sat down on the edge of his brother in law's bed. 

Riku peeked out from under his bed to make sure his elder brother wasn't in the room before sitting up in bed. "Ven, are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I ruined your wedding and now you can't have your honeymoon because I have cancer..."

Ventus watched as the teenager stared down at his hands in his lap while fidgeting with his blanket. He could see the tears welling in Riku's eyes and carefully pulling his new younger brother into a hug. The blond rubbed soft circles on the boy's back while he rocked them both slowly to help him calm down.

"I could never hate you, you know that right? I wouldn't start now just because you have cancer and especially not over something stupid like a wedding ceremony that we can always have later when you're better. Stuff like parties and honeymoons aren't important anyway, I'd rather spend my vacation time going to the beach or an amusement park with you two as a family anyway. You're more important than silly little things okay?"

Riku nodded quietly, taking a deep breath to calm himself down before awkwardly pulling away from the hug. "Thanks Ven.....sorry I woke you up."

"Don't worry about it. Get some sleep alright? I'll see you in the morning." 

Ven quietly walked back to his bedroom, closing the door behind him and letting out a sigh. 

"How's he doing?" Ritsu asked worriedly. 

"He's fine, just worrying about nothing again." Ventus explained, letting out a quiet sigh as he flopped down on the bed. 

The silver haired man let out a quiet yelp as he was pulled down to cuddle with his husband, Ven's smaller frame half on him to keep him from going anywhere. "What's with the sudden cuddle?"

"If I leave you on your side of the bed you'll just wake me up again." the blond grumbled. "Goodnight Ritsu."

"Goodnight Ven."


	4. A friend's curiosity

Riku adjusted his facemask, making sure it was on and comfortable while he waited for Sora to come over. The other teen had asked to come over to study together and after seeing how easily distracted his new friend could be during just their first couple of weeks in the 8th grade, he was more than happy to help him. He checked his phone for the tenth time in the past few minutes, waiting for the text telling him that Sora was outside. His brother couldn't help but smile as he watched the teenager fidget in his seat, an antsyness he'd never seen before taking over Riku's usually calm demeanor. 

"Want me to make you two some snacks?" Ritsu offered while he mopped the kitchen floor. 

Riku looked up at his elder brother, setting his phone on the table next to him face down to keep from staring at it while he waited for the next response. "Please, I don't know how I'm gonna do this." 

Ritsu dropped the wet mop wipe into the trash before walking over to sit across from his brother. "What's up? You're never this nervous around people." 

"What if I get sick when he's over? What if I throw up and he hates me afterwards?" 

The look on his younger brother's face made Ritsu's stomach sink. He was really worried about his new friend hating him for being sick. All of this was something so new to the elder yet he knew exactly what was going on. 

"Riku, do you have a crush on Sora?" Ritsu asked quietly, not wanting to scare his brother into shutting him out. 

Riku nodded and poked at his phone again in an attempt to keep from looking at the screen again. "Yeah, I do."

"Do you plan on telling him?" 

"I can't, what if I don't make it? What if he doesn't like me that way?" Riku sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I can't just be the guy who confesses to a straight guy and dies." 

"You're not gonna die Riku, you're gonna get better and finish school and live a good life." Ritsu’s expression was deathly serious as he all but glared at his younger brother from the other side of the table. “I know it’s hard to believe now and it might not seem like it with all the tests and treatments you’re going through every week but you will get better.” 

The sound of the doorbell echoing through the house stopped the two brothers before it could break out into a full on verbal altercation. Ritsu let out a quiet sigh as he stood up, pushing his chair in on his way to the front door. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw the bright and cheery face of Sora beaming up at him with Isa watching him from the driver’s side of his car in the driveway. Holding the door open for the teenager, Ritsu invited him in before stepping out to talk to the boy’s guardian.

“How’s it going Isa?” the silver haired man asked once his friend rolled down his window, leaning against the car door so he couldn’t just drive off without answering his questions. “Sora seems happier than usual.”

“Yeah, he’s been smiling more since he met Riku.” Isa explained, pushing his sunglasses up onto the top of his head so he could see his friend better. “Thanks for inviting him over like this. I know Vanitas won’t say it himself but he’s grateful too.” 

“Riku’s been happier with Sora around too, he’s always welcome here as long as Riku’s not too sick.” 

"Don't tell him that or he'll never leave." 

Ritsu couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head slightly in amusement. "About Sora, does he have any food allergies? I'm gonna make some snacks for the boys to hold them over till Ven comes home." 

"No, he's fine with anything." Isa replied calmly, adjusting his sunglasses over his eyes again. "Just don't give him sugar after seven, otherwise Sora'll never fall asleep." 

"Got it. See you later Isa, tell Vanitas I said hi." the silver haired man patted the top of his friend's car before taking a step back and heading inside. 

Ritsu could hear laughing as soon as he opened the front door and glanced through the doorway to the dining room on his way in, shutting the door while he listened to his brother and Sora talk about school and the strange ways their teachers thought their students would memorize things better. Half listening to the two teenagers' conversation, Ritsu made his way back into the kitchen to make them a quick snack before getting back to his cleaning. Everything had to be cleaned thoroughly to a standard he knew was higher than it needed to be. His younger brother was stronger than the methods he used to clean made him seem and if he was being honest with himself, Riku was more likely to feel sick from the smell of him mopping the floor with bleach water than a spoon that wasn't scrubbed before it went into the dishwasher. Time ticked on as Ritsu started to cook dinner at the same time he always did, knowing that Ventus would be home soon enough as the two teens cleaned up their class material and wandered to the living room to play video games. The sounds of good natured teasing and competition made their way through the house as Ritsu worked his way through a recipe Namine had sent him, his best friend saving him once again from feeding his family the same five things every week with her neat handwriting and easy to follow instructions. The note at the top of the picture he had sent him had him worried though, a warning about spice level and how she wasn't sure Ventus had the same heat tolerance as him and Riku, and with having Sora over as well Ritsu was cautiously light handed on all the spices he added to the curry Namine had convinced him was a good family meal. Time was on his side though, the familiar ping of the rice cooker going off just as the front door opened and his husband called out a familiar greeting. 

"I'm home!" Ventus called from the entryway, closing the door before toeing off his shoes and moving them aside so as to keep anyone from tripping on them. 

"Welcome home, dinner's just about ready." Ritsu called back from the stove, leaning back to wave at his partner through the doorway. 

The blond waved back with a nod before heading down the hall towards his bedroom, the two teens in the living room having paused their game to watch the adults' interaction. 

"Hey Ritsu, I haven't seen you and Ven cuddle at all since I've been around. Is everything okay?" Sora asked curiously, worried that he was being a bother. 

"Ven's just shy is all, don't worry about it." Ritsu replied dismissively. 

He knew the boys were both smart and the last thing he needed was for them to figure out that he and Ventus weren't actually in love. Lowering the temperature on the stove, he made a mental note to try and act more couple-y since they were legally a couple after all. It seemed strange to do couples things with the same man who used to text him drunk at 2am for a hand getting away from Vanitas after a fight, the one who'd cry if they were in different classes in grade school, the one who was too scared to make the last jump out of a low hanging tree branch on his own. After everything they'd been through as friends, doing things like falling asleep in the same bed seemed natural but there was something hard set stopping him from holding hands or kissing the man who was now his husband. Ritsu shook his head to clear it before turning the stove off and moving the pot he'd been using onto a cold burner to stop anything from burning onto the bottom of it. 

"Riku, Sora, dinner's ready." he called out from the kitchen as he grabbed clean plates from one of the cabinets and set them on the counter for the two teenagers. 

Sora cheered happily as he raced to the kitchen, seeming to bounce slightly as he served himself before carefully carrying his plate and fork to the living room. Ritsu watched to make sure his brother's guest set his plate on the coffee table before playfully nudging Riku. 

"Want him to stay the night? The guest room's always open if you don't think he'd like sleeping in your room." Ritsu offered with a playful expression. 

"Shut up…" Riku mumbled, his ears taking on a faint pink blush as he dished himself up and hurried back off to the living room to turn on a movie. 

The elder of the two brothers bit back a laugh, serving up a plate and handing it off as his husband wandered over in a hoodie and sweatpants, his hair still damp from his shower. "How was work?" 

"Boring." Ventus replied as he gratefully accepted the plate. "Thanks for making dinner." 

"No problem. Go sit down with the boys, I'll be out in a minute." Ritsu offered with a smile. 

Ventus nodded and wandered out to join the teenagers in the living room. Serving himself up, the silver haired man covered the pot with its lid and set the serving spoons on separate spoon rests to keep from getting curry all over the rice spoon before following his partner out to sit on the couch behind the boys on the floor. The four of them ate quietly, the occasional quip about the movie being the only breaks in the comfortable silence between them. As they all finished their meals, Ritsu took everyones plates and carried them off to the kitchen. He could hear the movie in the background while he was washing off the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher. The sound of Ven’s voice caught his attention as Ritsu turned off the faucet and started running the dishwasher before heading back out to the living room to join everyone else again. 

“How’s school going?” Ventus asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

“It hasn’t been too hard so far.” Riku replied before looking at Sora. “Sora’s having trouble with biology though.”

“I can’t help it, it’s so boring!” Sora whined as he rested his head on his arms with a pout on his face. 

“Give it some time Sora, you’ll figure it out eventually.” Ven offered reassuringly. 

“Yeah, if Axel can make it through middle school bio, anyone can.” Ritsu joked as he sat down next to his husband. 

Ventus had to hold back a laugh as he took a breath to steady himself. Sora laid back on the floor so he could look up at the adults on the couch easier, deciding to ask the other of his friend’s guardians the burning question he’d been wondering about after getting such a lackluster answer before. 

“Hey Ven, why aren’t you and Ritsu all over each other like Vanitas and Isa?” the brunet asked curiously. “I thought all adults were like that.” 

Ventus almost choked as he tried his hardest to keep from laughing. “Not really, a lot of adults aren’t actually like that.” 

“But Axel and Roxas always have their hands on each other, even Ienzo and Aeleus cuddle a lot, but I haven’t even seen you two hold hands the whole time I’ve known you two, why is that?” 

Ven pulled his hood up and pulled the drawstrings to hide his face so the boys on the floor wouldn’t see him laughing, the way he looked making it seem like he was just shy. Ritsu took the opportunity that was given to him and looked down at where his brother’s friend was laying down on the floor still. 

“Ven’s just shy is all, let him get used to you first alright?” Ritsu explained reassuringly, hoping the teens wouldn’t see through the lie. 

Sora nodded and sat back up, watching the movie intently while leaning on Riku. After finally being able to calm down, Ven pulled his hood off and leaned against the armrest of the couch with a quiet yawn. Ritsu silently thanked Isa and Vanitas for not telling Sora about how Ventus was in high school. The last thing he needed to explain was why the blond had gone from being so touchy feely in high school to not even holding hands with his husband. At least with the being shy excuse he wouldn’t have to worry about Sora asking why they were quiet in the bedroom. The room fell back into comfortable silence as the movie played on, a sound next to him catching Ritsu’s attention. He had to bite back a laugh at the sight of Ven’s sleeping face and carefully stood up. 

“Something wrong?” Riku asked, looking back at his brother. 

“Nah, Ven just fell asleep. I’m gonna take him and head to bed, don’t stay up too late alright?”

Riku let out an affirmative hum before turning back to the movie, leaving his brother to focus on the blond man. Ritsu gently shifted Ventus to make it easier to pick him up, hushing the smaller man as he let out an upset sound at the feeling of being shifted. He was careful not to bump Ven’s head into anything on his way back to their room and gently laid him down, quickly changing into his pajamas before joining him in bed. As long as Sora and Riku didn’t learn about how they were in the past, they could do this. 

“Goodnight Ven, sweet dreams.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sora's just a curious boy who wants to know everything, let's see where his curiosity gets him


	5. After work massage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an apology for being late before, here's a chapter a few days early! 3100 words and still probably not the longest chapter this thing is gonna have

Ventus tapped away mindlessly at his keyboard as he worked through the projects his supervisor had given him for the day, responding to emails and phone calls as needed through yet another mind numbing shift. It had been two months since he had signed the paperwork and married his friend, two months of good days and bad ones in his household as Riku's condition both became better and worse. He could hear the sound of a few of his female coworkers from a few desks down moving closer to him and inwardly groaned, not wanting to deal with them but also not wanting to listen to HR telling him he was being unreasonable again. Deciding it was too late to excuse himself to the men's room to escape them, he plastered a smile on his face as they rounded the corner and stopped in front of his desk. 

"Ventus, there you are! We were just looking for you!" one of them greeted with enough fake enthusiasm to make Sora watch for the conversational landmines. "We were wondering how your wedding went since you never sent out invites or anything. With how long it's been, we were worried your future wife dropped out on you." 

"Oh, it's nothing like that." Ven replied casually, keeping the bright smile on his face so the women couldn't say he was being rude without the camera he knew was pointing at his desk proving them wrong. "My  _ husband  _ and I just thought a smaller ceremony made more sense if we wanted Riku to make it to school on time." 

"A husband? What type of job does he have?" one of the other two women asked, her face blank as an unwashed chalkboard. 

"He stays home and does the housework, I didn't see any reason for him to keep working if he didn't want to." 

"Are you going to bring him in for the Christmas party this year?" the third one asked excitedly, the only one of the three women who actually looked excited for her fellow office worker. 

"That's up to him, I'll ask though." Ven felt himself relax at the good natured question he was finally asked. "It was nice talking to you all, have a good lunch!" 

He waved politely with a smile as his coworkers walked away, letting out a sigh once he was sure he was alone again as he leaned back in his chair to stare up at the ceiling. Ventus knew that as soon as Riku was healthy enough they would need to get some family pictures to keep his coworkers, some of their friends, and even Riku himself from finding out that the whole marriage was a sham. If someone found out he'd only married Ritsu to add him and Riku to his insurance for their benefit, things could take a dive for the worst. While he was in the middle of stewing in his thoughts, he felt his phone going off in his pocket and noticed his husband was calling him. Quickly signing out of his computer, Ven stood up and stepped outside to take his lunch break while tapping answer on his phone. 

"Hey, I was just thinking about you." Ventus joked as he answered the phone, sitting on one of the garden benches in front of the building he worked in. 

_ "Aww, you miss me already?" _

"More like I miss your cooking, the cafeteria food here is pretty weird." 

_ "I'll have dinner ready when you get home. How's work going?" _

"Pretty much the same as usual. One of the ladies from sales asked if I'd bring you to the Christmas party in a couple months." 

_ "You guys have a Christmas party?" _

Ventus let out a confirming hum, swinging his legs as he looked up at the clouds. "Yeah, there's always drinking though so I don't like spending much time there."

_ "Yeah, that sounds like something you'd avoid after everything that happened in high school."  _

"Can we please not talk about that right now?" 

_ "Sorry, sorry." _

"So what's up? You sound distracted." 

_ "Yeah, Riku's had a reaction to the laundry detergent. I guess his immune system's overreacting to it now."  _

"I'll pick up a new bottle on my way home from work. How's he doing?" 

_ "Here, I'll put it on speaker."  _

Ventus could hear some rustling and a soft thump as his husband set the phone on the table. "Hey Riku, you're home early. How are you feeling?"

_ "I threw up in third period, Roxas brought me home at lunch."  _

Ventus let out a quiet hum, looking up at the clouds in the sky. He'd have to remember to thank his brother later for picking up Riku at school. "Yesterday's round got to you?"

_ "Yeah. Sora and Kairi are bringing homework over for me later though so I'll be fine."  _

"Want me to pick anything up after work for you? Maybe some yogurt or something?"

Riku paused for a minute before answering.  _ "Can you pick up some paopu ice cream for me?" _

"Of course. You get some rest okay? I'll be home in a few hours." 

_ "Okay. Thank you Ven."  _

There was shuffling on the other end of the line as Ritsu seemed to pick the phone up before putting it up to his ear again.  _ "I'm off speaker. You're off late tonight, right? Want us to wait for you for dinner?" _

"No, you two eat at a normal time, I'll eat leftovers." 

_ "You sure? I can make something for you when you get home."  _

"It's fine, don't stay up late just for me." 

_ "Alright. Text me when you're on your way home so I can heat something up for you. See you later Ven." _

"See you later Ritsu." 

Ven hung up the call before shoving his phone back in his pocket and letting out a frustrated groan. He’d only been living with Riku and Ritsu for a few months now but not being able to sit down and have a family meal with them for the first time since they’d all moved in together was frustrating. They might not be a real family but they were miles better than spending the next four hours with his coworkers. Standing back up, he decided if he was gonna spend a late night with his coworkers, he was gonna need something with sugar in it.

  
  
  


Ritsu looked up from his book at the sound of his husband’s car pulling into the driveway. He marked his place with the bookmark he’d been using since middle school before setting his book down on the coffee table. 

“Welcome home Ven.” he greeted as the front door opened and his husband walked inside with a grocery bag and a jug of laundry soap.

“Thanks, I’m glad to be home.” Ven mumbled, obviously exhausted after a late day at work. “Can you take these? I need a shower.” 

“Yeah, you go wash up.” Ritsu smiled and took the items from his friend’s grasp before walking towards the kitchen. 

He could hear Ven make his way down the hall to their bedroom as he unbagged the pack of paopu ice cream cups his brother had asked for and fitted them into the freezer among everything else in there. They had enough that as long as Riku didn’t start having issues with anything he wouldn’t have to go food shopping for a while but at the same time, the looming threat of his younger brother having to go to an easier on the stomach diet was starting to become less like something that could happen and more like something that was going to happen soon. Picking up the jug of laundry soap, he carried it to the laundry room on his way to see how Ven was doing, grabbing a clean towel along the way. He knocked on the bathroom door to signal he was there before opening it. 

“I brought you a towel.” Ritsu explained, setting the towel on the counter before glancing over at the tub. “Want me to just reheat you some meatloaf or do you want me to make you a sandwich too?”

“Meatloaf’s fine.” Ven replied tiredly. “Thanks for making dinner every night.”

“No problem.” 

The silver haired man made his way back out to the kitchen, humming to himself as he put a few slices of meatloaf on a plate and into the microwave to reheat. He grabbed one of the ice cream cups and a spoon, leaving the microwave to its own devices as he walked to his younger brother’s room to check on him. 

“Hey bud, I’m coming in.” he called as he opened the teenager’s bedroom door. 

Riku sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes with the side of his hand as he looked at his brother confused. “What time is it?”

“Time for ice cream.” Ritsu explained as he sat down on the edge of his brother’s bed and handed him the ice cream cup. 

The teenager let out a quiet hum as he took the ice cream from his older brother, handing the lid over once he pulled it off before taking a bite of the ice cream. Riku relaxed as he felt the soothing chill of the creamy paopu dessert going down his throat. After all the vomiting he did earlier, this was just the thing he needed. 

“Tell Ven I said thanks.” Riku mumbled in between throat soothing bites. 

“I will. How’re you feeling?” Ritsu asked as he folded the paper lid in his hands. 

“Better than earlier. I was texting Sora so I didn’t freak out or anything.”

“I’m glad, he’s a good friend.”

Riku handed his brother the empty ice cream cup and his spoon once he’d taken his last bite. “When are you and Ven gonna go on a date?” 

“We’ll go on one after you’re feeling better.” Ritsu replied calmly in an attempt to divert the conversation. 

“Well me, Sora, and Kairi are planning on going to see a movie on Halloween, maybe you two could go out while we’re out? I’m gonna stay at Sora’s and come back home on the first so you two don’t have to worry about waking me up.”

Ritsu could feel his face turning a shade of pink as a memory from one alcohol fueled high school party he’d been trying to forget surfaced. “You sure you can handle going out to a theater?”

“If I can’t, we’ll just watch a movie at Sora’s and eat candy until we throw up.” Riku shrugged before laying down, pulling his blanket up over himself. “You two deserve a good night together, I’ll be fine for one night. Vanitas and Isa’ll be there if anything goes wrong.”

“Alright, get some sleep. We’ll plan more later.” Ritsu patted his brother’s head before standing up and heading back out to the living room, finding his husband sitting on the couch with the plate of meatloaf in his lap. 

Ventus was so tired after work that his appetite was crazier in normal but in the opposite way than what the silver haired man was used to. As he watched, the smaller man poked at the food on his plate uninterestedly. It looked almost like Ven had given up after three bites.

“Come on, you’ve gotta eat Ven.” Ritsu whispered as he sat down next to the smaller man. “Want me to give you a massage before bed?”

“That sounds amazing.” the blond mumbled tiredly, taking one more bite of his food before setting the plate on the coffee table. “I’m just not hungry today.” 

“Alright, I’ll just make you eat a bigger breakfast.” 

Ritsu picked up his husband’s plate and carried it off to the kitchen, putting the leftovers in a container before rinsing it off and putting it in the dishwasher. He walked back to the living room, smiling as Ventus held his arms up as a silent plea to be picked up.

“You’re so cute, you know that?” Ritsu asked as he picked up the smaller man. 

“I would smack you for that if you weren’t my best friend.” Ventus mumbled tiredly with his head on his husband’s shoulder. 

“You’re the one who asked me to marry you.” Ritsu teased with a chuckle as he felt the man he was carrying smack him. 

“I’m not sure if I love you or hate you.” 

The silver haired man playfully dropped his husband on their bed, rolling him onto his back before starting to work the knots out of his back. Ventus let out an almost sexual moan as he relaxed into the mattress. He pulled his pillow close, burying his face in the soft fabric as he melted under the skillful hands working on loosening him up. 

“God, this is better than sex.” Ventus moaned into his pillow, jumping slightly as his husband’s hands moved to a more ticklish spot on his sides. 

“Vanitas must be pretty bad in bed to make you say that.” Ritsu joked while working on a more stubborn knot at the base of the blond’s spine. 

Ventus pushed up into the other man’s hands to help him work on the knot in his back. “Bad is an understatement, I thought he was gonna bite my dick off the one time I let him give me head.” 

“Well at least he kept your standards low for the next guy.” Ritsu let out a grunt as he dug his thumbs in deeper into the knot to work it out. “You’re so tight.” 

“It’s not my fault work pushed me too hard again.” Ven pressed his face deeper into his pillow as he let out a louder moan. “Fuck, right there!” 

“You like that?” the taller man asked, his thumbs working deep into the muscles just above his companion’s ass. 

“Oh fuck, yes! Harder!” 

Ven let out a quiet whimper as he felt his husband’s hands push on his lower back harder, his whole body turning to jello as the hands jumped to one of his calves. Ritsu worked his hands up the blond’s first calf and thigh before moving down along his second thigh and calf, only stopping once he was sure he had found every last knot in his legs. 

“Unless you want me massaging your ass, I think we’re done.” 

“You’d like that, wouldn't you?” Ven teased as he looked back over his shoulder at the other man. 

Ritsu rolled his eyes before playfully swatting his husband’s backside. He earned himself a surprised squeak and a weak kick from the smaller man before climbing out of bed. Ven gave his partner a confused look as he watched him change into pajama pants before stepping out of the bedroom. He could hear Ritsu walk down the hall to the guest bedroom and let out a frustrated groan. After sleeping next to him for the past few months, he wasn’t sure if he could even sleep alone anymore. Did he do something wrong? Was he too pushy? Did Ritsu not like cuddling with him now that they did every night? Ventus waited a few minutes for his husband to settle down in the spare bedroom before climbing out of bed and following him down the hall. He quietly snuck into the room and climbed into bed with Ritsu, curling up next to him. 

“Ven? What’re you doing?” Ritsu asked quietly. 

“Did I make you mad?” 

Ritsu let out a sigh and pulled his friend into a hug. “No, you didn’t make me mad.” 

“Then why did you leave me?” Ven looked up at his husband’s outline in the dark, his uncertainty obvious on his face even without the light.

“Shit, I just made you feel abandoned didn’t I?” he could hear the blond sniffling and softly coaxed him closer, rubbing his back softly to soothe him. “It’s okay, I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“Don’t just leave me like that…” Ventus mumbled as he weakly hit the other man’s chest. “Let me know when you need to be alone, don’t just ditch me like…..”

“....like Vanitas?” 

Ven went silent as he hugged his husband tighter. The room was uncomfortably silent as the two friends just stayed quietly curled up together. Large hands rubbed soothing circles on the blond’s back to try and help him calm down.

“Ven, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll let you know if I need some time to myself from now on okay? You’re my best friend and the last thing I wanna do is make you feel like Vanitas did when you were together.” Ritsu ran his fingers through Ven’s hair to help him relax while he spoke. “Riku’s going out with his friends on Halloween, do you wanna go out to a party with me?”

Ven nodded and pressed his face in his friend’s chest. “That sounds like fun.” 

“Let’s get some sleep, I’ll still be here in the morning.” Ritsu promised as he adjusted the two of them to be more comfortable. 

Ven let out a yawn, allowing his exhaustion to take over while he listened to his friend hum quietly. The soothing fingers continued brushing through his hair as he fell asleep and one last thought ran through his mind as dreams took over his mind.

_ ‘Is this what love’s supposed to feel like?’ _

  
  
  


Ritsu let out a quiet groan as the sunlight filtering into the room pulled him from a strange recurring dream he’d been having since high school, one he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay in or wake up from. He could feel a weight on top of him and peeked out under the arm he’d been using to cover his eyes from the sunlight to see Ven’s familiar blond hair on his chest. His fingers moved to slowly brush through his husband’s soft hair while his brain worked to process for the first time what waking up in bed with someone else was like. For so long it had just been him and Riku alone, waking up with someone else was refreshing, having it be Ven was just the icing on the cake for him. 

“It’s nice waking up like this…” he mumbled while internally debating if he should get up or not. 

“Either stay still or do something about your morning wood.” Ven grumbled as he shifted so he was less uncomfortable on top of his partner. 

“I can’t help it, you’re just too cute.” Ritsu teased.

“Glad to know my husband thinks I’m cute.” 

The silver haired man carefully slipped out from under his friend, patting where he thought Ven’s back was. “I’m gonna get breakfast ready, you get some more sleep okay?”

Ventus gave a thumbs up before curling up under the blanket again. Ritsu smiled as he walked out to the living room. This was it, this was what a family was like. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can hate me later


	6. Haircuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready for this? 
> 
> Probably not but here it is anyway! It's only 11pm here so I'm not late

Riku sat down on the bathroom floor with his head tucked between his knees as he tried to calm down. His whole body was shaking from the shock of finding his hair falling out in thicker clumps than what he had gotten used to. His whole world was falling apart with every clump of hair he’d been trying to hide from his brother and brother-in-law over the past few months. With how much his hair had thinned out though, if they hadn’t already caught on, they would know soon enough. It took everything he had to keep from crying as he leaned back against the bathtub, allowing the lower temperature of the porcelain bathtub to cool him off as he tried to calm down. A knock on the bathroom door made him jump and Riku quickly stared at the door. 

“Riku? Are you in there?” Ven asked quietly from the other side of the door.

“Y-yeah.” Riku called out as he leaned back against the bathtub again. 

“Are you okay? Can I come in? Ritsu stepped out for a while, it’s just us.” 

Riku paused for a moment, staring at the door quietly while he mentally debated what was going on. Did he want his family to know what was going on? Could he handle going through this alone? Was it safe for him to go through this alone? What would he say when everyone else found out on their own if he tried to hide it longer? What would Sora say if he tried to hide this from him?

“I’ll unlock the door, give me a minute.” Riku replied quietly as he crawled over and unlocked the bathroom door before going back to sitting by the bathtub. “It’s unlocked.”

Ventus opened the bathroom door slowly in case the teen was sitting close to it, gasping when he saw how small Riku looked sitting there by the tub with tears in his eyes. He looked embarrassed and ashamed as he looked away from his brother-in-law. The blond sat down on the floor next to the young man and held his arms out to him. 

“Hey, come here.” Ven whispered, watching as the teen hesitated before moving to hug his brother’s husband. “It’s gonna be okay, you don’t have to hide anything from us. We’re here to support you through this whole thing and make sure you get through this as happy and healthy as you can be.”

“I just...I don’t wanna cause you two any more trouble…” Riku mumbled against his brother-in-law’s shoulder, his whole body shaking as he started to break down. “All I’m doing is causing you two problems and making your marriage harder!”

“You’re not causing us problems Riku, we both love you and care about your health.” Ventus reassured as he rocked the two of them gently. 

“I hate being sick like this, I hate how all the treatments make me sick, I hate missing school because I’m too sick to leave the house. Why can’t I just be a normal kid? Why do I have to be worried about if I have to cancel plans with my friends because I can’t stop throwing up instead of because I’m grounded or doing something stupid like a normal kid? I’d rather get in trouble for sneaking out in the middle of the night to cause problems with Axel than wake up in the middle of the night because I’m in too much pain to keep sleeping!” Riku broke down as he clung to the blond’s shirt and sobbed loudly. “I just don’t want my big brother to worry about me like this!”

“Hey, it’s okay. Look at me Riku.” Ventus whispered sternly. Riku pulled away and wiped his eyes off with the collar of his shirt with a quiet sniffle as he looked up at the older man. Ven waited patiently for the teenager to calm down before continuing. “Listen, I know you don’t want Ritsu to worry about you over being sick but even if you weren’t sick he would still worry about you. He’s been worried about you since the day you were born and he’ll worry about you until the day he dies, that’s just what being a big brother is like. Just look at how Vani is with Sora or how Prompto is with me and Roxas. No matter how old you get, no matter how strong you are, no matter how healthy you are, we’re always gonna worry about you okay?”

Riku broke down again as he allowed himself to be pulled back into a tight hug. He was rocked back and forth while he sobbed into the front of Ventus’ shirt, letting his brother-in-law comfort him. Ven carefully pulled his phone from his pocket to text his husband while still soothing the teenager he was hugging.

_[Ven]_

_Hey Ritsu, I know you’re out with Namine but could you bring home something Riku likes for dinner? His hair’s falling out more and we’re on the bathroom floor, I just wanna cheer him up_

_[Ritsu]_

_I’ll get something at Demyx and Xigbar’s_

_[Ven]_

_Thank you Ritsu_

_[Ritsu]_

_I’ll be home a little late tonight, can you keep him calm until I get home?_

_[Ven]_

_Yeah, you stay safe okay?_

_[Ritsu]_

_I will, see you when I get home_

Ventus carefully put his phone back into his pocket before coaxing the teen into standing up. “Let’s go watch a movie while we wait for Ritsu to come home, alright? We’ve still got a few of those paopu ice creams you like in the freezer.”

Riku nodded and allowed himself to be led out to the living room, sitting on the couch while he watched his brother-in-law walk to the kitchen. He pulled his knees up to his chest and fidgeted with a loose string at the hem of his jeans. Ventus handed the teenager a spoon and an ice cream cup before sitting next to him. The blond turned on the cooking channel as a distraction while keeping an eye on the boy next to him. The two of them sat in comfortable silence through two episodes of Chopped before Riku decided to break the silence.

“Hey Ven, when’s Ritsu coming home?” Riku asked quietly as he looked up at his brother-in-law. “He’s not usually out with Namine this long.”

“I’m sure he’ll be home soon, it’s probably just a busy night at Xigbar’s.” Ventus replied with a reassuring smile. 

The silver haired teen nodded and looked back at the tv quietly. Ventus rubbed the boy’s back softly to help soothe him while he glanced out the window. He didn’t want to let Riku know he was worrying just as much, he needed to keep calm for him and knew that if something went wrong, he would get a phone call from someone at least. As the entree round of the third episode hit the halfway mark, they heard the familiar sound of Ritsu’s car pulling into the driveway and Ven turned the tv off. Riku fidgeted with the hem of his shirt anxiously with his eyes focused on his hands. How was he going to explain this to his elder brother without having him panic? While he was mentally panicking, he hadn’t noticed Ventus get up and go over to open the front door for the man outside. Riku only checked back into reality when he heard the blond’s confused question. 

“You cut your hair while you were out?” 

Riku’s eyes snapped up as his brother stepped inside with a black box tied with a wide gold ribbon. Ritsu looked the same as when he left except that where he used to have long hair that ended close to his lower back when it was loose, he now had an undercut with what short hair he had left styled to look thicker than they all knew it was. 

“Your hair....but you loved your hair!” Riku was starting to hyperventilate as he stared at his brother’s now short hair. “Why would you cut your hair?”

Ritsu hurried over and knelt down in front of his younger brother, setting the box on the couch next to him before setting his hand on the teen’s knee. “It’s okay, deep breaths bud. I want you to open that box okay?”

Ventus closed the front door before walking over to join his family, sitting on the floor next to his husband. Riku cupped his hands over his nose and mouth to help calm himself down. Once he could breathe normally, he reached for the black box and set it on his lap. He picked at the ribbon for a moment before untying the knot and pulling the lid off, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of what had used to be the hair on his brother’s head made into a wig.

“Hair grows back Riku, I’m sure this time next year mine’ll be long again. While yours is falling out from the treatments though, me and Namine agreed to give you mine.” Ritsu explained while he watched his brother run his fingers along the wig. “Namine worked hard on that for you, it’s styled to look the same as your hair did before it started falling out. You always have been and always will be more important than something as silly as my hair.”

Riku picked up a card in a gold envelope, recognizing the handwriting as Namine’s as he read the message inside. 

_‘This will pass Riku, we’re all here for you now and we’ll be here for you when it’s all over’_

The teenager looked up at his older brother, feeling his stress wash away as he started crying. Ritsu moved the box aside before pulling the teen into a tight hug. He knew Riku was going through a lot right now and all he wanted to do was make sure his brother knew he wasn’t alone. 

“Can we invite Sora and Kairi over to cut my hair?” Riku asked as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I want them to be here for this, they deserve to know what’s going on.” 

“Yeah, we can ask if they can come over for you.” Ventus replied with a smile before standing up.

Ven pulled his phone out of his pocket, praying that Aqua was in a good mood before calling her on speed dial and stepping into the kitchen. He listened to the dial tone and glanced at the clock to get an idea of how mad at him she was going to be when she picked up. At least it was still early enough that she shouldn’t have gone to bed yet. Hearing the dial tone stop, he waited patiently for his friend to greet him.

_“Ven? What’s wrong? Don’t you know how late it is?”_ Aqua asked, her voice full of obvious concern as she immediately thought of the worst case scenario.

“Hey Aqua! Sorry, I know it’s late but I need a favor. Is it alright if Kairi comes over for the night? I can make sure she gets to school safe in the morning.” he leaned against one of the counters to keep from pacing around the kitchen and tapped at his lower lip with the index finger on his free hand.

_“Did something happen?”_ the hesitant way Aqua was talking made it clear she suspected something and honestly, she deserved a straightforward answer. 

“Riku’s hair’s been falling out from the chemo, he wants Sora and Kairi to come over and help him cut it.” Ven pulled at the skin on his lower lip absentmindedly, paying no attention to the damage picking at his lip was making. “I know it’s a school night, if it wasn’t important I promise I wouldn’t ask you and Xemnas for something like this.”

The line was silent for what felt like an eternity as the blond man waited for an answer for his friend before she spoke into the receiver again. _“I just talked to Xemnas, he’ll bring her over after she packs a bag and gets her school stuff ready. And Ven?”_

“Yes Aqua?”

_“Make sure she goes to bed before midnight.”_

“I will, thank you Aqua.” 

Ventus went through his normal goodbye process with his friend before hanging up and heading back to the living room, listening as his husband spoke to who he guessed was Vanitas on the phone in the hallway. With how the phone call was going, it was obvious that while Aqua trusted that Ven was more responsible than he was while he was still in school, Vanitas was still hung up on that houseplant that he’d accidentally thrown up in while hung over.

“I know it’s a school night, he’ll get to school on time alright? ...How do I know he will? Vanitas, I plan on driving the kids to school in the morning.” Ritsu was getting vocally more frustrated as he paced up and down the hallway. “Listen, I get that you don’t wanna drive right now and that you’re embarrassed because of what Sora yelled to get you to take the phone but either me or Ven can come pick him up.”

Ven waited at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall while he listened to the half of the conversation he could hear. Whatever Sora had yelled to get Vanitas’ attention must’ve been bad. Ritsu noticed his husband at the end of the hall and paused for a moment, moving the receiver of his cell phone away from his mouth and tapping his lip while mouthing three familiar words to the blond.

_‘Your lip’s bleeding.’_

Ventus covered his mouth with his hand before hurrying into the bathroom, locking the door behind him and listening to the half an argument he could hear while he checked the damage on his lip. 

“He’ll be fine, Vanitas, scout’s honor. ....No, I wasn’t being sarcastic. ...He’ll be in bed by midnight. ...Yep, no sugar before bed. ...I’ll have him up early so he can actually wake up. ...Coffee? You sure? He doesn’t seem like he needs the caffeine. ...Alright, I’ll take your word for it then. ...Okay, I’ll see you three in a few minutes then. ...Yep, got it, porch light’s on for you. See you soon.”

After a few moments of silence, Ventus heard a knock on the door and unlocked it to let his husband in. Ritsu peeked in to make sure his friend wasn’t doing anything strange before stepping in to join him in the small room. He closed and locked the door before walking over to where the blond was dabbing his lip with a tissue. 

“Talking to Aqua got you worked up?” Ritsu asked as he took the tissue and looked over the damage. “It’s not that bad this time, you’ve gotta stop doing that when you’re stressed.”

“I didn’t even realize I was doing it until you told me my lip was bleeding.” Ventus mumbled while he tried to look anywhere but into those worried seafoam eyes that were way too close. “Anyway, your phone call sounded a lot worse than mine was.”

“Yeah, something about if he can’t trust you with a houseplant, he can’t trust you with his brother.” the taller man rolled his eyes before letting go of his husband’s face. “And Sora didn’t really help.”

“What did he say that got Vanitas all worked up anyway?” 

Ritsu leaned against the counter with a sigh before answering. “He yelled for them to stop fucking for five minutes since they had a call. I guess Vanitas got embarrassed or something.”

Ventus held onto the wall to keep from falling over as he started laughing. “Vanitas? Embarrassed? I’d pay to see that.” 

“I’ve seen it before. It was during an argument we had while you two were still together, I said something stupid and he ended up redder than a tomato and punched me.” Ritsu explained before pushing away from the counter. “Come on, we should go back to Riku before he starts panicking again.”

The two men hurried back to the living room where Riku had turned the tv back on as a distraction and was finishing up the episode of Chopped they had left off on when Ritsu had come home. They sat so the teen was in the middle, Ritsu and Ventus sticking close in case he needed a hug while they all waited patiently for their late night visitors. As time ticked on, Ventus could tell that the older of the two brothers was more anxious for some reason. He wasn’t exactly sure which part of the whole thing was making Ritsu so anxious but when his husband started bouncing his leg, Ven quietly apologized to Riku before moving to sit next to his friend and leaning against him in such a way that the offending leg was pinned under his weight. With his new spot laying half on Ritsu, the blond settled in to watch the introduction as another episode started playing. They had almost finished the appetizer round when a knock on the door pulled them all back into reality. 

“Here, get off me for a second.” Ritsu mumbled as he gently pushed his husband off his lap before standing up and walking over to the front door. He glanced out the upper window to see if he was about to get his ear chewed off, relaxing when he saw Xemnas and Isa talking out in his driveway before opening the door for the teenagers on his porch. “Hey, thanks for coming over you two.”

“No problem! Is Riku still awake?” Kairi asked as she stepped aside to let the overly energetic brunet into the house ahead of her.

“Yeah, he’s just on the couch with Ven right now.” Ritsu explained, waving at the two men in his driveway and waiting for the young redhead to step inside before closing and locking his front door. 

“Riku! Why didn’t you tell me you were this sick?” Sora pouted as he ran over and tackled his friend on the couch, causing Ventus to jump away quicker than Ritsu had seen in a few years. 

“Sorry, I didn’t want you to worry…” Riku apologized quietly, needing to catch his breath after having the wind knocked out of himself. He patted his friend’s back softly in an attempt to console him before gently pushing to get Sora off him. “I need you two to help me, my hair’s been falling out more and I can’t cut it myself. I want you two to cut it for me.” 

“How about I cut your hair and Sora holds your hand? You might get hurt if he uses the clippers, he’s pretty clumsy.” Kairi explained, wanting to playfully tease her friend but also being completely serious about the risk of injury to Riku if Sora used the hair clippers. 

“That sounds good.” Riku replied calmly, offering the brunet clinging to him a smile before heading towards the bathroom. 

Kairi and Sora followed their friend, the three of them piling into the small bathroom before closing the door to settle in. Riku pulled out the hair clippers Ven had bought when they had all moved in together and set it on the counter for Kairi before sitting on the edge of the bathtub, facing the back wall of the tub so his hair would mainly fall on the floor as it came off his head. Sora climbed in with his friend and sat on the floor of the bathtub, resting his head on Riku's lap while Kairi got the hair clippers ready. Sora threaded his fingers together with his friend's soft ones, admiring how well their hands fit together while giving the hand in his a soft squeeze to help his companion relax. Kairi gave her friend’s shoulder a soft squeeze before flipping the on switch on the side of the clippers, the soft buzzing sound filling the room as if to remind them all that this was happening. They all took one last deep breath before she started to run the hair clippers through Riku’s thinned hair. With every pass across his friend’s scalp, Sora watched as the shoulder length silver hair he’d grown used to seeing on Riku fell to the floor. He gave his friend’s hands a soft squeeze while he whispered words of encouragement to let the other teen know he was doing a good job. Kairi ran a comforting hand along his back while she ran the clippers across his scalp for the last few passes before turning them off. Riku closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before reopening them and smiling at Sora. 

“So, how do I look?” he asked as if to break the silence. 

“As handsome as ever.” Sora replied before releasing the hands he was holding and hugging his friend tightly. 

Kairi hugged Riku tightly as well, resting her head on his shoulder. “You should’ve told us you have cancer Riku. We’re your friends and we’re here to support you no matter what you’re going through.”

“I was just scared…” Riku admitted quietly. “What if I die? I don’t want you two to worry about the worst with me…”

“So you’d rather risk dying and us not knowing why?” Sora’s voice was muffled as he pressed his face against his friend’s stomach. “Riku, we’d rather worry with you than lose you and not know why.” 

“I know, I’m sorry.” 

Kairi gave both her friends’ heads a soft pat before pulling away. “Come on, we’d better clean up and get to bed. We’ve got school tomorrow after all.”

“Do we have to?” Sora whined as he pulled away slightly and looked up at his friends.

“Sora, you lazy dork.” the redhead teased playfully before softly coaxing Riku into standing up. “Come on, at least help Riku wipe the hair off his neck if you’re not gonna help me clean up.”

Sora pouted but did as he was told, standing on the side of the bathtub for a better view as he gently yet firmly wiped away all the hair clinging to the back of his friend’s neck. He diligently worked until he was sure there were none still clinging to his skin while Kairi swept up all the hair on the floor into a dustpan and dumped it into the bathroom trash can. Once the three of them were sure everything was cleaned up they all piled out of the bathroom and hurried down the hall to Riku’s room to settle in for the night. Kairi grabbed her bags from where Ritsu and Ven had set them with Sora’s and wished her friends goodnight before heading to the guest room next door, leaving her friends on their own.

“Riku, is it alright if I sleep next to you tonight?” Sora asked after he’d changed into his pajamas. 

Riku could feel his heart almost leap out of his chest as he tried to play it cool and nodded. “Yeah, there should be enough space in the bed for the two of us.”

The smile that Sora gave his friend seemed as bright as the sun as he quickly climbed in and cuddled up to Riku with his usual lack of care towards the concept of personal space, using the taller teen’s chest instead of a pillow without worry about how uncomfortable it must be considering how much weight his friend had lost in the past weeks. The two of them quickly settled in together with the blankets wrapped around themselves tightly and their legs tangled together as a comfortable mess of limbs. 

“I’m glad you finally told us what was wrong Riku.” Sora mumbled, rubbing soft circles against the other boy’s chest. 

“I’m sorry I hid it from you for so long.” Riku apologized as one of his hands moved to reciprocate the soft circles on the smaller boy’s back. 

Sora propped himself up on his elbows as he looked straight into his friend’s eyes. “From now on, no more hiding big things from me! Promise me you won’t keep big secrets like this from me again Riku.” 

Riku could feel his breath catch in his throat, knowing full well he wasn’t capable of telling the brunet in his bed about the _other_ big secret he was hiding from him. There was no way he was telling anyone other than his brother and Ven about his crush anytime soon. 

“I won’t keep any big secrets like this from you anymore, I promise.” Riku replied with a smile, purposely wording things in a way that he wasn’t immediately breaking his promise. “Now come back here so we can get some sleep, we’ve got school tomorrow.”

Sora was all too happy to comply as he cuddled up with his friend again. He listened to Riku’s heartbeat and breath even out as he fell asleep, looking up at the peaceful look on his face. After a few more quiet minutes to make sure his friend was really asleep, the brunet softly traced his thumb along the other boy’s cheek while he watched him sleep. 

“Please don’t die before I can tell you I like you Riku.” Sora whispered into the darkness of the room. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his friend’s cheek before curling up with him again and finally giving in to his own exhaustion as the stress left his body.

  
  
  


Ritsu finished changing into his pajamas,climbing into bed to join his husband with an exhausted sigh. Ventus held his arms out to invite his friend closer and was quickly taken up on his offer with the silver haired man burying his face in his chest. 

“Did I do the right thing?” Ritsu asked quietly, feeling a familiar hand petting his head softly to help him relax.

“I think you did.” Ventus whispered back while keeping his husband held close. “I think this is exactly what he needed.”

“Thank you for being here for us Ven, I don’t know if I could do this on my own.” 

The blond smiled and ran his fingers along the short stubbly hairs on the back of his husband’s head. “That’s what family’s for.”

Ritsu closed his eyes, letting his best friend’s petting soothe him to sleep as he relaxed against him. When he’d married Ventus, he’d never expected things to be like this. He’d expected things to be like before where they were just friends but with a little extra cuddling for appearances. Out of all the things he’d been ready for, this wasn’t one of them. This was special, this was different, and it would take some adjusting to if he was ever going to get used to it. 

_This is love…’_ Ritsu realized as he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Spiderwebs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Halloween! 
> 
> Except not really because it's July and this is just the planning chapter.

Ventus hummed along to the Halloween music that was playing on his phone while he hung neon green cobwebs in the front window of his living room. Halloween was only a few days away and so far he’d only just managed to start decorating. He’d picked out decorations with his brother-in-law for some bonding time and so far, they hadn’t even made it to the outdoor decorations.

“How does that look?” Ven asked as he stepped aside to let Riku see the window from his spot on the couch.

“Needs more spiders.” Riku replied calmly as he snapped a picture with his cellphone. “Maybe you should put some of the plastic barbed wire in the bottom?”

“That sounds like it’ll look good.” the blond let out a quiet hum as he added more plastic spider rings to the fake spider webs. 

Riku watched from the couch as his brother’s husband taped a few feet of the plastic barbed wire to the bottom of the window with transparent tape. He laid down on the couch while he sent the picture he’d taken to his group chat with Sora and Kairi to see what they thought of it. Sora’s response came quickly with him getting excited about how close Halloween was. Kairi’s response was more tame with her pointing out that if they were adding lights, they should add them then before putting anything else in the window. 

“Kairi says if you’re putting lights up, you should put them up before you add anything else in.” Riku explained while he set his phone next to him on the couch and shifted to lay on his side. 

“Which ones do you wanna use?” Ventus asked as he held up the bag of faerie lights for the teenager to see. 

Riku let out a quiet hum as he thought back to the different colored boxes they’d picked out earlier. “How about the purple ones? The spiderwebs should work under black light.” 

“That sounds good to me.” 

Ventus set the bag down on the chair next to him, pulling out one of the small boxes of purple string lights before starting to unravel the new strand. He carefully hung the lights on pinned cup hooks to the inside of the window frame before working to fit a foam gravestone in between the faerie lights and the window. Once he was satisfied with how it looked, he stepped aside and offered the teen on the couch a bright smile.

“How’s it look?” Ven asked while grabbing his phone to pause the music. 

Riku looked over the window, nodding as he sat up. “It looks good Ven!”

“Thanks! I’ll take a picture of it from outside later.” Ventus explained, closing the curtains before walking over to sit next to his brother-in-law. “Do you have any plans for Halloween?” 

“Yeah, I’m gonna go see a movie with Sora and Kairi.” the teen explained as he pulled up the movie listing on his phone. “Vanitas and Isa have a few movies we can watch just in case we can’t go out.” 

“Do you want some extra pocket money for snacks and souvenirs?” Ven asked, watching as the fourteen year old boy stood up.

“Sure. I’ve gotta go ask Ritsu something, I’ll be back.” Riku explained as he shoved his phone in his pocket. 

Riku wandered out to the backyard where his brother was sitting on the porch swing with his laptop on his lap. Ritsu was scrolling through costume websites to get an idea of what he would wear Halloween night. Feeling his younger brother sit down next to him, he closed his laptop and smiled at him.

“What’s up?” Ritsu asked as he set his laptop aside.

Riku let out a quiet hum and nudged his elder brother. “Any idea what you’re doing Saturday?”

“Yeah, I’m taking Ven to a house party at Xigbar and Demyx’s. Ven asked for the night off so he doesn’t have to worry about being tired.” 

“Any idea what you’re gonna be?” Riku asked curiously. 

“Not a clue.” Ritsu explained as he shook his head. 

“How about letting us help you? I’m sure Sora and Kairi will have some good ideas.” Riku offered as he pushed the swing with his feet. “It’ll be better than scrolling through costume websites until a Google ad finally shows you something two months from now.” 

“Well, getting hope from a bunch of teenagers can’t be worse than whatever Google tries to sell me.” Ritsu let out a sigh and stood up with a stretch. “Wanna put on your wig and we can go over to Sora’s house?” 

“Give me just a few minutes, I’ll meet you out front at the car.” Riku replied before jumping up and running back into the house. 

Ritsu smiled as he watched his little brother run off, picking up his laptop to take it inside. He set it on the dining room table before walking out to the living room to let his husband know that he and Riku were leaving. Seeing Ventus was busy texting someone and sat on the coffee table in front of his husband with his elbows on his knees, holding his chin in his hands to wait for the blond to finish what he was doing. Looking up from his phone, Ven had to hold back an amused sound at the sight of the man across from him waiting like an excited puppy.

“Something happen?” Ventus asked, turning off his phone screen before setting it on the couch next to him.

Ritsu let out a hum and smiled. “Just appreciating how cute you are when you’re distracted.”

Ven rolled his eyes, letting out an amused snort as he crossed his legs. “Teasing aside?” 

“Me and Riku are heading over to Isa’s place to talk to Sora.” the silver haired man explained as he sat back up. “We’ll be home after dinner, don’t wait for us okay?”

“Drive safe, okay?” Ventus replied seriously, watching as his husband stood up. 

“I’ll be careful. You should invite a few people over so you’re not lonely while we’re gone.” 

Ventus let out a hum of agreement and watched as his husband stepped outside to start the car. He waved to Riku as the boy ran through the living room on his way out, listening for the sound of the car heading down the road before picking his phone up again. There was no way he was going to be able to pick out a Halloween costume on his own and he knew it. After so many years of ignoring the holiday all together, he was going to need help. Selecting his brother’s number from his list of contacts, he pressed call and waited patiently for Roxas to answer.

_ “Hey Ven, what’s up?” _

“Hey Roxas, I need some help with a Halloween costume. Can you come over and give me a hand?” 

_ “Only if Axel and Xion can come with.” _

“Deal, I’ll order takeout. The usual from Xigbar’s?”

_ “You know it. We’ll be over in ten.” _

“See you soon.”

Ventus hung up the call, quickly opening the Pizza Hut app on his phone and reordering his saved order named after Roxas to make sure it would be there soon. He checked that everything was set properly before finishing his order and setting his phone on the coffee table. He ran his hands through his hair while stretching his back, letting out a sigh while he wandered around the living room to stretch his legs. This was his first date since he’d left high school and he had absolutely no idea what was going to do. Part of him wanted to just prepare to drink while he was at the party and see where he ended up but at the same time he didn’t want to risk doing something stupid and hurting Ritsu. Even though they were only married so Riku could have decent health insurance, he was honestly enjoying being around his best friend so much. A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts and Ven quickly opened it to let his brother and friends inside.

“Woah, what’s got you worried?” Axel asked as he walked over and sat on the couch. 

“I haven’t gone on a date since high school.” Ventus explained while he closed the front door, knowing that everyone in the room knew the circumstances of his marriage. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

“Just bang him, you’re married now so where’s the harm?” Axel joked, immediately getting an elbow to the ribs from his boyfriend. 

“Axel, that’s not funny.” Roxas sighed as he looked up at his twin apologetically. “I take it you really like him?”

Ventus nodded as he was coaxed into one of the armchairs by Xion. “I can’t sleep without him anymore, we tried one night while Riku was at Isa’s and both gave up at 4am.”

“Are you gonna tell him?” Roxas asked, shifting so he was sitting half on Axel. 

“Eventually, yeah. I already feel like I forced him into this, I don’t want him to think he absolutely has to stay with me once Riku’s better.” Ventus explained while he fidgeted his fingers and stared down at his hands. 

“How about your costume drops hints then?” Xion offered with a reassuring smile. 

“Yeah, you can wear something that shows off those piercings you got in high school!” Axel added while he wrapped an arm around his boyfriend. “He used to stare at you whenever we went to the beach.” 

“I remember the look on Ritsu’s face when he found out about your bellybutton piercing.” Roxas had to hold back a laugh as he thought back to when they were all in school. 

Ventus could feel his face heat up as he thought back to when he’d snuck off in the middle of the night with Vanitas to get his tongue and bellybutton pierced. He remembered how mad his mother had been when she’d found out and how even when Vanitas had started to hate his choice, Ritsu had still been supportive of him. He’d told him that it was his body and his choice. 

“Is Luxord’s place still open?” Ven asked quietly while he mentally weighed the pros and cons of getting new piercings before Halloween.

“You sure you wanna do this today?” Roxas asked while he searched up the hours of the tattoo and piercing parlor close to their favorite restaurant. 

“Yeah, Ritsu and Riku are gonna be out for at least another four hours.” Ventus explained while he accepted that this is what he was doing tonight. “Maybe I should get a tattoo too?”

Xion listened to the conversation while she texted Ritsu, wanting to see if she could fluster him while she thought back to how he’d run in and come out to her and Namine as gay when they were all at a house party in their second year of high school after Ven had done something. She received a response back with him telling her to shut up and had to keep from laughing. A knock on the door paused the whole conversation, all four of them remembering that there was pizza on the way.

“I’ll get it.” Xion volunteered as she stood up and walked over to the front door.

Ventus let out a sigh as he moved to sit so his back was to one of the arms of the chair he was in and he was facing his brother. “I still have no idea what I’m gonna wear on Saturday.” 

“How about a sexy demon? You can borrow some of my clothes and we can pick up the accessories after pizza.” Roxas offered, sitting up as Xion set the stack of pizza boxes on the coffee table.

“Sounds good to me.”

  
  
  


Ritsu felt his phone vibrate as he picked up his chopsticks, taking a bite of his mushroom chicken as he opened the message from Xion. He only realized the mistake he’d made once Kairi was hitting his back to keep him from choking on his food. 

“You okay?” Riku asked from the other side of the table as he passed over a glass of water to his brother. 

“Yeah, Xion’s just screwing with me.” Ritsu explained between coughs as he texted his friend back to tell her to shut up before putting his phone back in his pocket. 

“What’d she say?” Isa asked while reaching for a spring roll. 

“That Ven's getting another piercing." 

Vanitas covered his mouth with one hand as he bent over laughing, trying his hardest not to laugh so loudly that he'd disturb his younger brother while Sora was focused on picking all the onions out of his food. Isa rubbed his boyfriend's back to get him to calm down while he leaned his head on his hand with his elbow on the table. After a few minutes of covering his laughter, the black haired man sat back up with an amused sigh. 

"Sounds like he's trying to tell you something." Vanitas joked casually, reaching for the open container of lo mein. "Considering how many times I found him waking up with you after parties after he got his first couple of piercings, I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever he gets this time." 

"Vanitas…." Isa whispered in warning. 

"Relax, I'm over it. I'm not surprised you two ended up married, just that you two didn't get together after the fifth time you hooked up drunk." Vanitas explained with an amused smile. "So, what're you gonna wear on Saturday? You've gotta impress your husband since he's working oh so hard to impress you." 

"I have no idea, that's why we're over here actually." Ritsu explained while poking at a gyoza on his plate with his chopsticks. 

"He was looking through Party City's website." Riku replied casually, not caring that he'd just ratted his older brother out. 

"Gross." Vanitas made a disgusted face and threw another gyoza at the man across the table from him. "Riku, pick a monster."

"A demon." Riku picked before taking a bite of a piece of broccoli. 

“We can work with that.” Vanitas replied, letting out a quiet hum before taking a bite of the lo mein on his plate while he mentally debated something. “How slutty are we allowed to make this?”

Ritsu let out a sigh, eating what was on his plate while he listened to everyone else plan his Halloween costume. He was definitely in for a wild time on Saturday.


End file.
